Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

I've always shied away from degenerative mental diseases. But then my Mum raised my awareness when one of her former colleagues, Ian Pratt, was afflicted with MND. Knowing I liked open water swimming she suggested the Solent swim to me.

Then, I found out (after returning from a stint down under) that a great city friend, Dave Setters, was also confronting MND. Dave knew Ian. My resolve was set. The Solent was on.

What inspires me, is that these people don't curl up and focus on dealing with their own health issues, quite conversely, in spite of their degenerative disability, they fight for a better outcome for all those dealing with and confronting MND.  I wonder, would I be as brave?

Swimming the Solent is not easy (the training is a pain in terms of eating into your day - just doing a 5k pool swim takes an hour and half, and that's only the time in water - and don't get me started on lane edict!). But I can, and I think of those less fortunate who can't. So while I can, I want to do something that says: Hey, respect to you.